Socks and method for knitting the same

ABSTRACT

The socks according to the invention, in which socks an ankle part( 5 ), heel part( 2 ), instep part( 4 ), sole part( 7 ) and toe part( 1 ) are connected by knitting in the form of a sack and completed by a suture line( 3 ), are three-dimensionally formed by the feature that the sock( 10 ) is provided with one or more enlarged parts( 6   a   ,6   b   ,6   c   ,6   d ), between a top toe part( 1 A) of the toe part( 1 ) and the instep part( 4 ) adjacent thereto, between a bottom toe part( 1 B) of the toe part( 1 ) and the sole part( 7 ) adjacent thereto, and between the ankle part( 2 ) and the sole part( 7 ) or between the heel part( 2 ) and the ankle part( 5 ). The socks are knitted so that the angle(θ) formed by the sole horizontal(X) and the rear edge(Y) of the ankle part( 5 ) is below  90 °, so as to provide as much reserved space as possible to the toe and heel parts.

Pursuant to 35 U.S.C. § 119(a), this application claims the benefit of earlier filing date and right of priority to Korean Patent Application No. 10-2005-0026755, filed on Mar. 30, 2005, the content of which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety

Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to socks and a method for knitting the same and more particularly to socks with three-dimensional shape formed ergonomically to meet the shape of a foot and a method for knitting such socks.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Globally the textile industry is striving to produce products with special functions capable of providing assistance for keeping health and comfort to consumers, thanks to the richness of consumers' living as well as the highly-developed textile technique, differently from the old time when clothes were simply prepared to protect human bodies from the coldness and hotness. In conformity with this recent trend, in the case of socks as well, the quality improvement in a variety of aspects including the improvement in knitting method is in progress in order to improve the raw material in the respect of the absorptiveness of sweat and ventilation, for example, by using special yarns.

Generally socks are knitted in constant sizes by broadly classifying them into several classes for children and male and female adults without subdividing the size irrespective of the foot size in contrast to other ordinary clothing, because socks have an inherent elasticity on the base of knitting structure to allow for the flexibility in size. For this reason, even the above-suggested special socks fail to give comfort, causing the toe and heel areas to feel tight or the toe area to be suppressed, when put on, due to the individual difference particularly in the shapes of the heels, insteps and toes. Particularly, in the case of the socks for sports, inconvenience was caused when socks were put on for a long time.

Thus, the method of enlarging the width of a sock by partially increasing the number of knitting needles on the needle cylinder of a circular knitting machine for socks was tried as one means of improving the feeling of wearing socks. In this case, however, whereas knitting operation while decreasing the knitting needles one by one or by a few every time is required to decrease the width of a sock in a knitting method known so far, then an upper and lower knitted-rings get hard to be connected naturally or smoothly and so plies tend to be missing, with the result that the knitting work was difficult. Because of this difficulty, in the case of the socks knitted recently, the knitting needles corresponding to 180° out of the knitting needles for 360° on the needle cylinder of a knitting machine are used for repeated knitting on the base of taking as one unit the gradual decrease or increase of operating knitting needles up to a certain section so that the toe part and the heel part are knitted several times in the y or v form, whereby ease should be given to the toes and heel areas through the enlarged toe and heel parts of socks.

Further, in the case of usual socks, as shown in FIG. 6, the suture lines 3′ are prone to suppress the toes due to the pressing uppers of shoes when the shoes are put on, because of the final finishing suture lines 3′ formed approximately linearly on the boundary lines between the insteps and the toes. Particularly, in the case that the socks 10′ are intended for the purpose of sporting, the oppression caused by the sutures is so uncomfortable as to get on the wearers' nerve, because the socks themselves are thick so as to add to the oppression.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present inventors having been engaged in hosiery manufacturing industry for many years have changed the knitting method many times in various ways in order to manufacture high class socks with high value added, which can respond to the purchasing demand of high-quality life seeking consumers. As the result, in contrast to the above-described conventional circular knitting machine for hosiery in which the knitting needles conresponding to 180° arc out of the needles on the 360° periphery of a needle cylinder are used to conduct regular repetition of gradually increasing or decreasing the operating needles so as to result in partially multiplied knitting in the form of y or v, the ratio of operating to non-operating knitting needles was caused to vary freely, whereby socks having a novel design and function have been developed.

Therefore, the object of the invention is to provide functional socks and a method for preparing the same, wherein the socks are formed ergonomically to be close, in the form, to that of a foot, by providing enlarged parts of a definite area onto the instep areas adjacent to the toes and the sole areas and also onto the areas adjacent to the ankles, in contrast to the conventional method in which socks were formed through knitting uniformly in the form of a sack, and besides the suture lines are formed to position on the concave sites between the insteps and toes, or on the space between the soles and the bottom of toes, to relieve the oppression on the front of feet due to the sutures when socks are worn, and further the suture lines are formed in a round shape and the knots are positioned on the widthwise opposite ends of the socks to improve the wearing comfort without the oppressive stress on the feet, whereby even men having with feet which are unusually large in width or length can put on the socks with comfort.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows the front view of the socks according to the invention illustrating the overall shape of the socks when unfolded,

FIG. 2 shows the plan view illustrating a part of the characteristic part when the socks according to the invention are put on,

FIG. 3 a shows the schematic view illustrating diagrammatically the knitting process according to the first embodiment of the invention,

FIG. 3 b shows the descriptive view of the instep part illustrating the enlarged part knitted according to FIG. 3 a,

FIG. 3 c shows the descriptive view of the sole part illustrating the enlarged part knitted according to FIG. 3 a, just as in FIG. 3 b,

FIG. 4 a shows the schematic view illustrating diagrammatically the knitting process according to the second embodiment of the invention,

FIG. 4 b shows the descriptive view of the instep part illustrating the enlarged part knitted according to FIG. 4 a,

FIG. 4 c shows the descriptive view of the sole part illustrating the enlarged part knitted according to FIG. 4 a, just as in FIG. 4 b,

FIG. 5 a shows the schematic view illustrating diagrammatically the knitting process according to the third embodiment of the invention,

FIG. 5 b shows the descriptive view of the instep part illustrating the enlarged part knitted according to FIG. 5 a,

FIG. 5 c shows the descriptive view of the sole part illustrating the enlarged part knitted according to FIG. 5 a, just as in FIG. 5 b, and

FIG. 6 shows the plan view of a finishing suture line in a conventional sock.

The above object of the invention is achieved according to an aspect of the invention by socks, the socks being based on the conventional socks in which an ankle part, heel part, instep part, sole part and toe part are connected by knitting in the form of a sack and completed by a suture line, characterized in that the sock is provided with one or more enlarged parts, between a top toe part of the toe part and the instep part adjacent thereto, between a bottom toe part of the toe part and the sole part adjacent thereto, and between the ankle part and the sole part or between the heel part and the ankle part. Because of the enlarged parts as described above, the angle formed by the sole horizontal and the rear edge of the ankle part is below 90°.

Preferably, the suture line is formed to position on the upper layer of a sock facing the concave boundary position between the instep area and the toe area of the foot, and on the lower layer of the sock facing the boundary space between the sole area and the toe area of the foot, or on the intermediate boundary position of the sock between the upper layer for the toes and the lower layers for the toes. Preferably, the suture line is formed in the round curved form.

As the case may be, the suture line may be formed between the instep part and its adjacent enlarged part or between the sole part and its adjacent enlarged part.

Further, the enlarged parts, heel parts, sole parts and toe parts are, differently from the instep and ankle parts of socks, knitted as a triple-layered structure in which the elastic yarns like polyurethane yarns are positioned in the middle layer, polyacry yams or cotton yarns in the long loop form are knitted to contact the skin of feet, and the polyester fiber or other synthetic fiber yams in short loop are positioned on the top surface, to protect the skin, providing an excellent cushion property, beside the absorbing and elastic properties, to the sole. Accordingly, the inventive socks can protect the feet to be comfortable without tightening, specially when exercising, and besides resist the wear due to friction so as to increase durability.

Socks having the knitting structure as described above according to the invention are described in detail below by referring to accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 shows the front view of the socks according to the invention, illustrating the overall form when the socks are spreaded and FIG. 2 shows the plan view of the toe portion of the sock formed according to the invention. As can be seen from these figures, the sock according to the invention is knitted three-dimensionally, so that the horizontal plane of the overall sock sole portion, denoted by X in the figure, which plane is formed by the sole portion plus the instep portion of the sock, forms an angle somewhat less than the right angle, due to the enlargement of both the toe part and the heel part of a sock, in contrast to the other ordinary socks, which are knitted so that the sock part for receiving the instep and foot sole and the sock part for the ankle may form an angle more than 90°.

As can be seen from the schematic views of a sock according to the first embodiment of the invention, as shown in FIGS. 3 a to 3 c, the ankle part 5, heel part 2, sole part 7 and instep part 4 are first knitted, subsequently the enlarged sole part 6 b and enlarged instep part 6a are successively knitted as shown in FIG. 3 a, and then the bottom toe part (i.e. the toe part of the sock's lower layer) on the sole side 1B and the top toe part (i.e. the toe part of the sock's upper layer) on the instep side 1A are knitted, whereby a finishing suture line 3 is formed between the top toe part on the instep side 1A and the bottom toe part on the sole side 1B, as shown in FIG. 3B.

In particular, the knitting needles within 180° around a specific point on a needle cylinder as the reference, i.e. the needles positioned within the ranges of 0˜90° and 270˜360° in FIG. 3 a, are brought to operation, so that knitting operation is continued in such a manner that the respective needles on the opposite innermost edges are reduced every time one course has been knitted, until only the needles within the 90° range (the needles in the ranges of 0˜45° and 315˜360° in FIG. 3 a) are left in operation, to form the enlarged sole part 6 b, as graphed on the top of FIG. 3 a. Subsequently, beginning with the needles on the needle cylinder (the needles in 90°˜270° in FIG. 3 a) now in inactivation, the knitting is continued in such a way that the opposite knitting needles are reduced one by one every time one course has been knitted until the needles within the 45° ranges on the both sides, i.e. the total 90° range are only in operation to obtain the enlarged instep part 6 a, as depicted as well in 3 a. Thereafter, the knitting needles within the 0˜90° and 270˜360° ranges are started to operate in the same manner as for the enlarged sole part 6 b, until needles are reduced to those in the both ends of 45° to knit the toe part 1B, and in continuation, the respective one needles in the both 45° ranges are increased every course to finally form the top toe part 1A. As the result, as shown in FIGS. 2 as well as 3 b and 3 c, when the top toe part 1A and the enlarged instep part 6 a are thereafter connected, the suture line 3 in a round shape is formed on the instep part 4. Therefore, when the socks according to the first embodiment are put on, the front part of the foot can have a reserve due to the enlarged portion of the toe part 1 plus its vicinity, so that even a person having unusually long toes can wear the socks comfortably without a tightening feeling. Because the suture 3 is positioned on the somewhat concave area of the instep connected to toes, in conformity with the shape of a foot, an oppression on the feet by the sutures, as would be observed in ordinary socks, are saved.

According to the second embodiment of the invention, as shown in FIGS. 4 a˜4 c, the ankle part 5, heel part 2, sole part 7 and instep part 4 are first knitted, just as in the first embodiment. Subsequently, in this embodiment, the knitting needles within 180° around a specific point on a needle cylinder as the reference, i.e. the needles positioned within the ranges of 90° and 270° in FIG. 4 a, are brought to operation, so that knitting operation is continued in such a manner that beginning with the top course, the respective both end needles are reduced every time one course has been knitted, until only the needles within the 90° range (the needles in the range of 135˜225° in FIG. 4 a) are left in operation, to form the enlarged instep part 6 a, as depicted on the top section of FIG. 4 a. Subsequently, beginning with the needles on the needle cylinder (the needles in 0˜135° and 225˜360° in FIG. 4 a) now in inactivation, the knitting is continued in such a way that the inner edge knitting needles on the both sides, i.e. a total of two needles are reduced one every time one course has been knitted, until only the needles within the ranges of 0˜45° and 315˜360° remain in operation to obtain the enlarged sole part 6 b, as depicted as well in 4 a. Thereafter, the knitting needles within the 90˜270° range are started to operate in the same manner as before, until needles are reduced to those in the central two adjacent 45° ranges to knit the top toe part 1A, as shown in FIG. 4 a, and finally, knitting is continued in the manner of increasing the knitting needles on the both sides until the knitting needles within the range of 90˜270° remain only in action so as to obtain the bottom toe part 1B. As the result, when the bottom toe part 1B and the enlarged sole part 6 b are thereafter connected, the suture line 3 in a round shape is formed on the connection area of the sole part 7 or the enlarged sole part 6 b with the bottom toe part 1B, as seen in FIG. 4 c, and the enlarged instep part 6 a and the enlarged sole part 6 b are respectively formed on the both sides of the instep and sole (Refer to FIGS. 4 b and 4 c). Therefore, when the socks according to the second embodiment are put on, the toe areas become free from tightening stress and particularly the positioning of the suture 3 on the concave boundary area of the sole with the toes relieves preferably the feet from the oppression due to the suture 3.

Furthermore, According to the third embodiment of the invention, as shown in FIGS. 5 a˜5 c, the ankle part 5, heel part 2, sole part 7 and instep part 4 are first knitted, just as in the foregoing two embodiments. Then, in this embodiment, the knitting needles within 90° around a specific point on a needle cylinder as the reference, i.e. the needles positioned within the ranges of 0˜45° and 315˜360° in FIG. 5a, are brought to knitting operation and then two inner edge needles from the both sides inwardly are anew added or activated as the course is changed. Such an increase in needles is repeated with the changes of courses, until the needles within the 180° range (the needles in the ranges of 0˜90° and 270˜360°) are brought to operation, to form the enlarged sole part 6 b, as depicted on the top section of FIG. 5 a. Subsequently, the opposite edge needles are reduced one by one as the courses are changed until the needles in the ranges of 0˜45° and 315˜360° are only in knitting operation to form the bottom toe part 1B. Thereafter, the knitting needles within the 135˜225° range are started to operate in the manner of increasing the needles as before, until the needles in the 90˜270° range come to operate to thereby knit the enlarged instep part 6 a, and subsequently the same needles in the 90˜270° range are now subjected to the knitting process in which the active edge needles are successively reduced every time the knitting course is changed, until the needles in the 135˜225° range remain only in operation to finally knit the top toe part 1A. Ultimately, as shown in FIGS. 5 b and 5 c, the suture line 3 is formed on the intermediate boundary between the bottom toe part 1B and the top toe part 1A, and therefore the enlarged parts 6 a and 6 b are respectively formed on the sides of the instep and sole, so that the toe part on the front of a sock is formed three-dimensionally with enough space. Accordingly, this third embodiment provides also the advantage that the toe areas become free from tightening stress and the oppression due to the sutures.

Because the sock 10 formed as described above according to the invention is formed three-dimensionally by forming several enlarged parts partially as required, the instep part 4 against the sole part 7 is formed almost vertically so much as the angle θ formed by the sole horizontal X and the rear edge Y of the ankle part 5 becomes below 90° so as to give a comfort when put on.

Beside the positions between the top toe part 1A and the instep part 4 adjacent thereto and between the bottom toe part 1B and the sole part 7 adjacent thereto, as described above, an enlarged part 6 c is formed on the boundary area between the heel part 2 and the sole part 7 and also an enlarged part 6 d is formed on the boundary area between the heel part 2 and the ankle part 5, as shown in FIG. 1, according to the invention, to increase the ankle area in the same way as applied to the knitting process of the above-described enlarged parts 6 a and 6 b. As a result, .the amenity in wearing is improved and the resistance to friction with the shoes is so high as to extend the service life of the shoes due to the enlargement of the heel parts of the socks.

Further, the socks 10 according to the invention are excellent in cushioning property, elasticity and durability, because the above-described enlarged parts 6 a, 6 b, 6 c and 6 d as well as ankle part 2, sole part 7 and toe parts 1 are, differently from other parts, knitted on a triple-layer structure of terry stitch formed by alternately crossing the inside and outside yarns and the middle yarn.

As discussed in the above, in the case of the socks according to the invention, the instep part adjacent to the toes, the sole part and the part near the heel are formed with enlarged parts of definite areas to result in a three-dimensional ergonomically knitted product resembling the shape of the stream-lined foot, so that the front area of the toes is freed from the tightening stress, event in the case of unusually long toes. Further, the suture line can appropriately be chosen as required to position on the top surface or bottom surface of a foot or on the intermediate boundary between the top and bottom surfaces of a sock, when put on, and to have the round curved form and further the knots are formed on the widthwise opposite ends of the sock, so that the suture line is not suppressed by the shoe uppers. As the result, the feeling of wearing socks is very good and the triple structure at the position of friction with the shoes assures the long use as economical advantage.

Additionally, the socks according to the invention are distinguished from ordinary shocks in the apparent structure to such an extent that an ordinary consumer can grasp optically its function at a glance. The unique design can attract the interest of consumers to elevate the value of the commodity. 

1. Socks in each of which an ankle part(5), heel part(2), instep part(4), sole part(7) and toe part0(1) are connected by knitting in the form of a sack and completed by a suture line(3), wherein the sock(10) is provided with one or more enlarged parts(6 a,6 b,6 c,6 d), between a top toe part(1A) of the toe part(1) and the instep part(4) adjacent thereto; between a bottom toe part(1B) of the toe part(1) and the sole part(7) adjacent thereto; and between the ankle part(2) and the sole part(7) or between the heel part(2) and the ankle part(5).
 2. Socks according to claim 1, wherein the angle(θ) formed by the sole horizontal(X) and the rear edge(Y) of the ankle part(5) is below 90°.
 3. Socks according to claim 1, wherein the enlarged parts(6 a,6 b,6 c,6 d), the ankle part(2), the sole part(7) and the toe parts(1) are knitted on a triple-layer structure.
 4. Socks according to claim 1, wherein the suture line(3) is positioned between the enlarged part(6 a) on the instep side and the top toe part(1A).
 5. Socks according to claim 1, wherein the suture line(3) is positioned between the enlarged part(6 b) on the sole side and the bottom toe part(1B).
 6. Socks according to claim 1, wherein the suture line(3) is positioned on the intermediate boundary between the top toe part(1A) and the bottom toe part(1B).
 7. Socks according to claim 1, wherein the suture(3) is formed in the round curved form.
 8. A method for knitting socks comprising the steps of: first knitting an ankle part(5), heel part(2), sole part(7) and instep part(4) in succession; causing knitting needles within 180° around a specific point on a needle cylinder as the reference, i.e. the needles positioned within the ranges of 0˜90° and 270˜360° to be in operation, continuing knitting operation while reducing or getting out of operation the respective needles on the opposite innermost edges every time one course is knitted, until only the needles within the 90° range (the needles in the ranges of 0˜45° and 315˜360°) remain in operation, to form the enlarged sole part(6 b); subsequently, starting with the inactive knitting needles on the needle cylinder (the needles in 90°˜270°), continuing the knitting while reducing the opposite knitting needles every time one course is knitted until the needles within the 45° ranges on the both sides, i.e. the total 90° range are only in operation to thereby knit the enlarged instep part(6 a); operating the knitting needles within the 0˜90° and 270˜360° ranges to continue the knitting operation while reducing the knitting needles, in the same way as for the enlarged sole part(6 b), until only the needles on the both ends of 45° remain in operation to form the toe part(1B); and continuing the knitting operation while increasing the knitting needles, until the needles in the both 90° ranges remain in operation to finally form the top toe part(1A); and thereafter, connecting the top toe part(1A) and the enlarged instep part(6 a) to cause the suture line(3) in a round shape to be formed on the instep part(4).
 9. A method for knitting socks comprising the steps of: first knitting an ankle part(5), heel part(2), sole part(7) and instep part(4) in succession; causing knitting needles within 180° around a specific point on a needle cylinder as the reference, i.e. the needles positioned within the range of 90° to 270° to get in operation, continuing knitting operation while reducing or getting out of operation the respective both end needles every time one course is knitted, until only the needles within the 90° range (the needles in the range of 135˜225°) remain in operation, to form the enlarged instep part(6 a); until only the needles within the 90° range (the needles in the ranges of 0˜45° and 315˜360°) remain in operation, to form the enlarged sole part(6 b); subsequently, beginning with the needles on the needle cylinder (i.e. the needles in 0˜135° and 225˜360°) in inactivation, continuing the knitting operation so that the inner edge knitting needles on the both sides are reduced one every time one course is knitted, until only the needles within the ranges of 0˜45° and 315˜360° remain in operation to obtain the enlarged sole part(6 b); thereafter, starting to operate the knitting needles within the 90˜270° range while reducing knitting needles, until the needles in the central two adjacent 45° ranges remain in operation to knit the top toe part(1A); and finally, continuing the knitting operation while increasing the knitting needles on the both sides until the knitting needles within the range of 90˜270° remain only in action so as to obtain the bottom toe part(1B); and, thereafter, connecting the bottom toe part(1B) and the enlarged sole part(6 b), to cause the suture line(3) to be formed in a round shape on the concave connection area of the sole part(7) with the bottom toe part(1B).
 10. A method for knitting socks comprising the steps of: first knitting an ankle part(5), heel part(2), sole part(7) and instep part(4) in succession; causing the needles positioned within the ranges of 0˜45° and 315˜360°, to be brought to knitting operation and then successively causing two inner edge needles from the both sides to be anew operated every time the course is changed, until the knitting needles within the 180 range (the needles in the ranges of 0˜90° and 270˜360°) are brought to operation, to form the enlarged sole part(6 b); in the foregoing state, reducing the opposite edge needles one by one as the courses are changed until the needles in the ranges of 0˜45° and 315˜360° are only in knitting operation to form the bottom toe part(1B); thereafter, starting with the operation of the knitting needles within the 135˜225° range, continuing the knitting operation while increasing the needles, until the needles in the 90˜2705° range come in operation to thereby knit the enlarged instep part(6 a); and in the foregoing state, continuing the knitting process while reducing the knitting needles, until the needles in the 135˜225° tange remain only in operation to finally knit the top toe part(1A); and, thereafter, causing the suture line(3) to be formed on the intermediate boundary between the bottom toe part(1B) and the top part(1A).
 11. Socks according to claim 4, wherein the suture(3) is formed in the round curved form.
 12. Socks according to claim 5, wherein the suture(3) is formed in the round curved form.
 13. Socks according to claim 6, wherein the suture(3) is formed in the round curved form. 